- Gerhard Wagner
Gerhard Wagner (
18 August 1888 inNeu-Heiduk ,Upper Silesia , now inPoland –25 March 1939 inMunich ) was the first Reich Doctors' Leader ("Reichsärzteführer") in the time ofNazi Germany .Born a
surgery professor 's son, he studiedmedicine in Munich and served as a doctor at the front inWorld War I (1914 - 1918). Among other things, he was awarded theIron Cross , first class.From 1919, Wagner ran his own medical practice in Munich, while also being a member of two "
Freikorps " between 1921 and 1923, "von Epp" and "Oberland". Just because of hisSilesia n origins, Wagner stayed on as leader of the Upper Silesia German Community Associations ("Deutschtumsverbände Oberschlesiens") . In May 1929, he switched to theNSDAP .Dr. Wagner was co-founder and as of 1932 leader of the National Socialist German Physicians' Federation (NSDÄB), and also functioned from 1933 as a member of the Palatinate "
Landtag ". A year later, in 1934, Wagner was ordered to the position of Reich Doctors' Leader. Moreover, he was "The Führer's Commissioner for National Health". By 1933, he had already become leader of the Main Office for National Health, and in 1936 came his appointment as that office's Main Service Leader ("Hauptdienstleiter").In December 1935, Wagner became leader of the Reich Physicians' Chamber. A shift in his political career came in 1937 when he was promoted to SA
Obergruppenführer . Meanwhile he was also commissioner for collegiate issues onRudolf Hess 's staff.Wagner died quite young, at only 51. The cause of his sudden death is to this day unknown. His successor was
Leonardo Conti .Gerhard Wagner was jointly responsible for
euthanasia and sterilization carried out againstJew s and the handicapped, and showed himself at the Nuremberg Party Congress in 1935 to be a staunch proponent of theNuremberg Laws , and thereby also ofNazi Germany 's race legislation and racial politics. Under Wagner's leadership, the Nazi killing institution atHadamar was established.External links
* [http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/pt36rasse.htm "Race and Population Policy"] - speech by Dr. Gerhard Wagner at the 1936 Nuremberg Rally; source:
Calvin College
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